The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1887-02-25
Regeneratlng a Farm.

Regeneratlng Farm.
Three years ago Il thrifty old Ger
man purchased Il farm of eighty acre
in an adjoining township. 1t was ;
farm that for about twelve Years ha(
undergone such course of misman
agement and abuse as had almost ruin
ed it. 1t was in about the worse posi-
bic condition. but the wise old mar
knew what was beneath the unprom
islng surface and at once proceeded tC
| put it in trim for his daughter and
prospective son-in-law.. 1t was sur.
rounded by an Usage orange hedge fif.
teen to twenty feet high, with gaps in
it three to five feet wide stopped ur
| with rotten rails in such a manner as
to offer special inducements to stock
of all kinds to pass through and devouI
or lemclish what little grew upon the
land. He began the campaign very
earl Y in the Spring by attacking the
hedge, and great was the curiosity of
the neighbors to know how he would
proceed to make an effective fence out
of it. He cut it ali off close to the
ground with the exception of stubs
eight or ten feet apart which were left
strung with four barbed wires, the low
est 5 inches from the ground and the
others ten inches apart. From the
stllmps of the old hedge there sprang
up thick and vigorous growth of
thorny shoots, which were trimmed up
on both sides and guided into the gaps
and twisted among the wires in such a
mander us to make one continuous.
close hedge. When this new growth
attained the height of the stubs it was
topped. which caused it to thicken up
and branch ont omong the wires. BY
the lst of September he had a combin-
ed he'd ge and fence that was smooth
and bull proof and almost chicken
tight. As boundry fence it can hard
ly be eXcelled. 1t is pig-tight and with
iudicious trimming will remain so for
years, with no repairs other than the
annual pruning.
Through this farm ran what is call
ed here a ''brmch," Il cut or gully three
to six feet deep and thirty to fifty feet
wide. in shallow ravine which was fill
ed with coarse grass, bushes and gigan-
tic weeds, and so mirv as to be impas-
sable during the greater part Of the
year. The old gentleman laid Il four
inch tile four feet deep down the centre
of this, broke up the sod and with har-
row and drag cut and ground it down
fine, smoothed the rough edges of the
gully and then sowed it with timothy.
red top and clover. As result the
branch can be crossed anywhere at any
time OF the year. and the second year
after it was tiled he cut enough hav out
of it to pay the entire cost of the tile.
In the lower cSrner of the farm. where
the branch made its exit, was about five
acres Of rough. hushv land that had
never been cultivated The crab trees
were cut down, and fence built around
!. Il cheap shed erected and lot of
hcep turned on. In addition to what
hey could obtain among the brush they
eceivcd one feed "f hay per day. The
,utlct of the lille land in the branch ran
nto the end Of long trough and kept
hem supplied with pure running Wa
r the wear round.
In two Years they almost eytermina-
,d the brush and now they have been
uperSedcd by Il lot of pigs, without
ings i'll their noses. and they literally
urning the sod and remaining brush
upside down. Next wear that lot can
,e fitted for wheat about rs easily as
my portion Of the farm and it will
yield fully forty bushels per acre.
The Son-in-law is as thrifty and in
telIigcnt rs the old gentleman. and he
has brought that farm up from what
was an cvesore and blemiSh on the
face of the earth to be Il model or an
agricultural college.